The Cuban chess player talked to Prensa Latina prior to her participation in a chess simultaneous event that took place in this capital as a tribute to the 95th anniversary of the birth of Ernesto Guevara, passionate and promoter of that sport in Cuba.

He was accompanied in the simultaneous by Uruguayan International Master Bernardo Roselli, for whom Che Guevara could have reached an Elo of 2,300 points and the rank of Master of the International Chess Federation (FIDE).

Pita directs in his country the Center of Chess Studies of the University of Sport, and considers that the Cuban science game is “on good footing.”

“We have a group of very talented young people who perhaps assumed responsibilities before the required maturity”, added the specialist.

He acknowledged that there was a loss of flows due to the migratory phenomenon, “but at this moment the situation is promising”.

“We recently celebrated in Havana the 56th Capablanca in Memoriam tournament, with a large participation of Cuban and foreign players,” she said.

“We involved a children’s group with more than 200 children and another group of veterans, with fifty or so of them,” she added.

The Grand Master confessed that she always dreamed of winning that title, but she never thought of having the historic privilege of being the first Cuban to win it (1998).

“I had the perspective that I had to achieve it in the mixed tournaments and that’s where I focused, in addition to a lot of study and work, which is what I recommend to young people with that aspiration,” she said.

Her opinion has value, since she was seven times female champion of her country, which she represented in nine chess Olympiads.

mh/ybc/rgh/ool